LOS ANGELES — Occidental (4-9-1, 4-4-1) lost to La Verne (5-8-1, 4-5-0) 3-1 on Saturday at W.C. Patterson Field at Jack Kemp Stadium. Before the game, the team celebrated their seniors
Maile Fukushima,
Alessia Sacchi,
Tess Adlam,
Mia Steadman,
Jordyn Tribus and
Reagan Seelhorst with a pregame ceremony.
In the game, Occidental finished with a 14-10 shot advantage and put six shots on goal to La Verne's four. Occidental recorded seven shots in each half and had six second-half corner kicks, but its lone goal came in the first half.
Occidental answered an early deficit quickly, with
Bella Calemine scoring off
Maile Fukushima's assist at 4:23 to make it 1-1 after La Verne had gone ahead in the third minute.
The Tigers pressed immediately around the equalizer, earning a corner kick, getting two saved shots from
Mia Merkelbach and another from
Alessia Sacchi, then adding a second corner in the 11th minute. Occidental also absorbed a La Verne stretch from the 14th through 21st minutes that included three shots and a corner without conceding.
After a red card to Merkelbach at 27:08, La Verne scored through Natalie Kooba at 28:30 to go ahead 2-1, but Occidental still created late looks with saved shots from Sacchi and
Zakrie Smith before halftime.
Megan Sewell's goal off Lex Sahagian's assist at 75:44 moved La Verne ahead 3-1, but Occidental continued to press with a corner shortly after and a four-shot, two-corner stretch from 83:12 to 86:54.
Earlier, Occidental opened the second half with a corner and later created another chance when
Tess Adlam shot wide right before the team earned a corner in the 60th minute.
Zakrie Smith and
Maile Fukushima also had attempts around a
Melanie Rodriguez save on Kailey Kolesar's shot as Occidental tried to stay connected.
The late pressure produced shots from
Diana Reyes-Sanchez,
Mia Steadman,
Samantha An and Fukushima, but Occidental could not cut into the deficit as La Verne closed out a 3-1 result.
Occidental Top Performers
Bella Calemine
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- one goal
- one shot on goal
Maile Fukushima
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- one assist
- two shots
Alessia Sacchi
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- two shots, both on goal
Occidental is 4-9-1 overall and 4-4-1 in conference play. La Verne is 5-8-1 overall and 4-5-0 in conference play.
Up next, Occidental soccer team hosts California Lutheran University on Wednesday, October 21st, 2026, at 7 p.m. in Los Angeles, California.
